Category: Music

The Best Albums Of 2011 – Or Not?

Finally! And only a few weeks late! Here are my picks for the best albums of 2011. Well, at least for the moment. And by “best” I mean that I liked them best! What did you like?

The Cars “Move Like This”

Death Cab For Cutie “Codes And Keys”

The Decemberists “The King Is Dead”

Eisley “The Valley”

Robbie Robertson “How To Be Clairvoyant”

Tom Waits “Bad As Me”

And also good…

Jack’s Mannequin “People And Things”

Adele “21”

Gavin DeGraw “Sweeter”

Jimi Hendrix “Winterland”

Jethro Tull “Aqualung” 2-CD reissue

Paul Simon “So Beautiful Or So What”

So what do you think? What did I miss? Leave me a comment.

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Our Latest 43 Music Items

Here is the latest update. Some we bought, some were gifts, a few we burned. Do you love any of these? Hate any of them? Or are you just confused?

Read all the way to the end and then leave me a comment!

ARTIST – TITLE – FORMAT – SIZE – COUNTRY – COMMENTS

Waits, Tom – Bad As Me CD 5 US 2CD Ltd Edition

Bush, Kate – 50 Words For Snow CD 5 US

Jethro Tull – Aqualung CD 5 US Two CD 40th Anniversary Special Edition

Cars, The – Move Like This CD 5 US

Ra Ra Riot – The Rhumb Line CD 5 US

Concrete Blonde – Bloodletting CD 5 US 20th Anniversary Edition, six bonus tracks

Gabriel, Peter – Us CD 5 US

Heap, Imogen – Speak For Yourself CD 5 US

Young, Neil – International Harvesters – A Treasure CD 5 US

Cure, The – The Only One CD 5 US

Cure, The – The Perfect Boy CD 5 US


A Holiday Greeting – Happy Xmas

War is over, if you want it. Happy whatever-you-celebrate, hope you find peace and love in the coming year.

And a happy new year. Let’s hope it’s a good one, without any fear.

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John Lennon – Rest In Peace

John Lennon wanted to change the world. He did change mine.

Thirty one years ago today was a tragic day. We lost a great man and a great artist.

 

 

From Wikipedia:

John Lennon was an English musician who gained worldwide fame as one of the founders of The Beatles, for his subsequent solo career, and for his political activism and pacifism. He was shot by Mark David Chapman at the entrance of the building where he lived, The Dakota, in New York City, on Monday, 8 December 1980; Lennon had just returned from Record Plant Studio with his wife, Yoko Ono.

Lennon was pronounced dead on arrival at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center, where it was stated that nobody could have lived for more than a few minutes after sustaining such injuries. Shortly after local news stations reported Lennon’s death, crowds gathered at Roosevelt Hospital and in front of The Dakota.

 

 

And one more video. Let’s “continue”…


San Francisco Anniversary Trip Photos Are Online

Hello again, family, friends, and everyone else too. The pictures from our San Francisco 2011 anniversary trip are now online! We had a great time.

Any questions, just ask. Take a look! Leave a comment if you want, I’ll be waiting….

San Francisco 2011 photos

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The San Francisco Anniversary Trip

Wow. Our 25th anniversary. Damn, that’s a long time, Petra B! I don’t regret it at all though.

And yes, there will be pictures here soon. But not yet!

We decided to take a short trip to San Francisco for our anniversary. We left Friday early afternoon and arrived a couple hours later at our first destination, a reuse/recycle store called Scrap. We found a few things there but not much, but it was still fun to look. Then we made our way through the traffic and rain to our hotel, the Galleria Park. It’s in a great location and close to a lot of things. We checked in, just in time for the free daily wine reception (translate: free wine). We were getting pretty hungry and luckily we had brought with us


Music We Own: The “V” Stuff (as of today)

Hello again friends, family, and music lovers…

This is the twenty-second in a series of posts about the music we own. We sort-of collect items by certain artists, as you may notice. And V/A means “various artists”. And yes, we are both still obsessed with music!

Artists are listed as last name, comma, first name. If it is a band then it is just the band name. Anyway, check it out and see what you think. Leave me a comment below the list!

Name – Title – Format – Size – Country – Comments

V/A – Grammy Nominees 1999 CD 5 US

V/A – A Very Special Christmas Live CD 5 US

V/A – American Idol Greatest Moments CD 5 US

V/A – Billboard Top Rock ‘N Roll Hits – 1972 CD 5 US

V/A – Music Express Productions – DJ To Go CD 5 US Prince and others

V/A – A Motown Christmas CD 5 US

V/A – Wild And Wooly CD 5 US

V/A – Funk Blast! CD 5 US

V/A – A Holiday Wish CD 5 US

V/A – Hear Music – Waking CD 5 US

V/A – Chestnuts CD 5 US Promo

V/A – Double Shot Pop Alternative CD 5 US Beth Hart, Jill Sobule, Morrissey, etc

V/A – The Concert For New York City CD 5 US Bowie, Etheridge, Mellencamp, etc

V/A – Just Say Noel CD 5 US XTC, Aimee Mann, Michael Penn, Beck, etc


Get Happy! More Elvis Costello In Reno!

Earlier this year I posted about going to see Elvis Costello in Reno (read about it here and more here). Well, I finally got around to posting more of the videos that I took at the show.

Check out the links below for video of Elvis doing four more songs from the great Spinning Songbook Tour in Reno Nevada.

Sulky Girl

I Don’t Want to Go to Chelsea

Slow Drag With Josephine

What’s So Funny About Peace, Love, and Understanding

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Gavin DeGraw And David Cook In Reno

Last weekend we drove up to Reno, NV for a quick getaway and a concert. Sure, we gambled a bit too but mainly we were there for the music. Petra likes both the artists and so we went to check them out. First on the bill, and starting 20 minutes early (!) was Carolina Liar. They were ok but the singer had some problems staying on tune. Not sure what that was about. Next up was singer-songwriter Gavin DeGraw. Turns out he’s quite a performer too. He put on a great show and should easily have been the headliner, performing most of his songs from his first album (Chariot) and his latest (Sweeter). Those are his best two albums anyway IMHO. Then last up was David Cook, from American Idol. He put on a decent rock show, but there’s a sameness to almost all his songs that makes him better in small doses. More variety might help. Overall, though, it was an entertaining show and Gavin was by far the high point. I took some cell-phone videos that you can watch, click on the “continue reading”…


Our Latest 48 Music Items

Here is the latest update. Some we bought, some were gifts, a few we burned. Do you love any of these? Hate any of them? Or are you just confused? Take a look and then leave me a comment…

Read all the way to the end and then leave me a comment!

ARTIST – TITLE – FORMAT – SIZE – COUNTRY – COMMENTS

Death Cab For Cutie – Codes And Keys CD 5 US

Jack’s Mannequin – People And Things CD 5 US Special edition with three bonus tracks

Bowie, David – Vs. KCRW – Golden Years CD 5 US Advance copy

DeGraw, Gavin – Sweeter CD 5 US

B-52s – With The Wild Crowd! Live In Athens, GA CD 5 US

Beatles, The – 1 CD 5 US Remastered

Adele – 21 CD 5 US

Eisley – The Valley CD 5 US Autographed


Music We Own: The U Stuff (As Of Today)

Hello again friends, family, and music lovers…

This is the twenty first in a series of posts about the music we own. We sort-of collect items by certain artists, as you may notice. And yes, we are both still obsessed with music!

Artists are listed as last name, comma, first name. If it is a band then it is just the band name. Anyway, check it out and see what you think. Leave me a comment below the list!

Name – Title – Format – Size – Country – Comments

U2 – How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb CD 5 US Special package with bonus DVD

U2 – No Line On The Horizon CD 5 US

U2 – The Joshua Tree CD 5 US 2-CD reissue

U2 – Boy vinl 12 US


This Must Be The Place For Talking Heads

Have you read this book? It’s called “This Must Be The Place: The Adventures of Talking Heads in the 20th Century“, written by David Bowman and published in 2001.

First off, I really like this band. A lot. Talking Heads took pop, punk, art, funk, and quirkiness and cooked up something unique and innovative, while at the same time catchy and infectious. No one else sounds like them. They pushed musical boundaries with nearly every song, but the music was so good it would be stuck in your head for weeks.

Now, on to this biography. The author has a casual style that is kind of fun but also can get kind of annoying. He refers to women as “chicks” (does anyone still do that?). And, while there are plenty of facts about the band and it’s members, there is also an obvious bias to his opinions. He gives a lot of time to the tensions between David and Tina, and places that as the reason the band quite working together. This may be true, there are quotes and insights from friends and others, but there could have been more contributions from the band members themselves. There are some nice photos in a center section, though I of course wanted more.


Music We Own: The T Stuff (As Of Today)

Hi there music lovers…

This is the twentieth in a series of posts about the music we own. We sort-of collect items by certain artists, as you may notice. And yes, we are both still obsessed with music!

Artists are listed as last name, comma, first name. If it is a band then it is just the band name. Anyway, check it out and see what you think. Leave me a comment below the list!

Name – Title – Format – Size – Country – Comments

T.A.T.U. – Dangerous And Moving CD 5 US CD-R

T.A.T.U. – 200 KM/H In The Wrong Lane CD 5 US CD-R

T.L.C. – No Scrubs CD 5 UK

Ta Mara And The Seen – Thinking About you vinl 12 US

Ta Mara And The Seen – Ta Mara And The Seen vinl 12 US

Ta Mara And The Seen – Everybody Dance vinl 7 US

Takahashi, Yukihiro – Neuromantic vinl 12 US Includes lyric/picture booklet.

Talking Heads – Remain In Light CD 5 US Dual disc, CD + DVD

Talking Heads – Electrically vinl 12 US Bootleg.

Talking Heads – Fear Of Music CD 5 US

Talking Heads – Stop Making Sense CD 5 US Special edition, seven bonus tracks.


Seattle And Bumbershoot 2011 Photos Here Now!

Hello again, family, friends, and everyone else too. The pictures from our Seattle 2011 trip are now online! We had a great time as usual. There are Seattle pix, Bumbershoot Festival pix, and just some other weird pix we took on the trip.

Note: These photos came from my cell phone camera. There may be other pictures posted later.

Any questions, just ask. Besides Petra and me, you might even notice a couple pictures of our friends Mama O and Liz. Take a look! Leave a comment if you want, I’ll be waiting….

Seattle/Bumbershoot 2011 photos

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